Fireworks
by Bml1997
Summary: A one-shot of Skipper and his team out camping. Skipper gets triggered and Kowalski and the others try to comfort him.


**A.N.- Hi all! It's been a while I know since I've been here, but I'm trying to get back in the groove of writing and so back into my fanfictioning again ^^ To kick off this start, here is a one-shot that I hope you all enjoy =D (Oh! And I included a bonus scene at the end ^^)**

* * *

Skipper cringes as there is a bright flash overhead. A warning. He looks back at what is left of his unit: two young Nancy cats that have no business in this situation and are obviously terrified. He has to get them away from here. His head jerks left as he hears the distant blast of another bomb followed by the shots of machine guns. That way for sure is a no-go, straight into the full war zone also would be suicide...For that matter any way could be suicide if they aren't lucky.

"C'mon, boys," he shouts at them. "We're getting you two out of here."

"But sir! It's against orders!" one of the boys exclaims. "They'd have us all killed!"

"Don't worry about that, boy. Faking your age on a federal document is the worst they could get you for, but I'm not going to sit here and watch us all get killed. Now up." Skipper shoves them both up and over the edge of the ditch and hops up after them. "We're blowing this popsicle stand. I'll get you boys home and cover with the general."

"But we can't go home, sir..."

"Uh uh uh, no buts, soldier. You can't stay out in this. It's too dangerous, you both are too young and have no idea what you're doing. You'll get yourselves killed here. Now stop arguing, I'm still the skipper here," he snorts.

"Yes, sir," they finally sigh in defeat and solemnly march in front of him.

Skipper ushers them a little faster as he glances around them. Something about this still felt off to him. Somehow, this all felt too easy. Deserting the army never was this easy...Well, in a group at least. Solo during the heat of battle, anyone could just slip away unnoticed, but a small group like this? This should not be this easy and it puts him on edge.

His eyes then widen as an epiphany hits him. _They_ know. They must have already known he was going to flee with the boys...There is a trap. Skipper looks around them, the feathers on his back raised and bristling. Something is not right here, and whatever it is, he can tell is bad news.

"Boys! This way and slide it!" he then shouts, pointing deeper into the forest.

The trio slide deep into forest. Then he hears a soft whistle and stops. "NO! Boys, STOP!" But it is too late. He slides back as an explosion rocks the land around him. He is sent sprawling through the air and land smack against a tree. Skipper blinks twice and blacks out.

"Skipper! Skipper, sir!" he hears a voice calling his name and frowns. The voice is familiar, he can't place it from where, but it is familiar sure enough. "Skipper, come on, sir, wake up."

Skipper blinks his eyes open and immediately they flicker around the new surroundings in confusion. This isn't Mexico. This isn't even deep in the forest.

"Skipper? Are you okay?" A young penguin approaches him with concern in his eyes. He's clutching some sort of pink unicorn doll close to his chest. "You were screaming in your sleep, sir."

Skipper stares at them long and hard as reality finally sinks in. "Yeah, Private, I'm fine. Just fine." He lays back down and turns over. "And if you Nancy cats wake me again, you'll be running laps when we're back at the HQ. Got it?" he growls, pulling his sleeping bag up and over his head. He listens to the shuffling around him and silently sighs in relief that Kowalski was ushering them all back to bed. He had thought the change in air would be nice, that camping out in this valley would be the change of scenery they all needed. Boy how wrong he must have been. Skipper then jumps as something touches his sleeping bag, and he sits up, his chest tight with panic.

"Easy, sir. It's just me," Kowalski says softly, kneeling down by Skipper's sleeping bag. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Never better, Kowalski, now leave me alone!" Skipper barks, standing up and grabbing his bag and walking off a little ways before laying back down. His chest is still tight and his feathers are standing on end, but he can't tell his team that. He's the commanding officer, he can't show weakness. Not around them. Not around anyone.

Kowalski frowns and follows him. "Skipper, you don't have to be a genius to tell that you're not as okay as you want us to believe."

"I said leave me alone, Kowalski." Skipper jerks the sleeping bag over his head. "Please," he then sighs. "Just go away, please."

Kowalski looks down at him for a long moment before sighing and walking back to his own sleeping bag. Skipper is not okay, he knows that. He even knows why. The firework testing earlier by humans had startled all of them. He already had to safely detonate an accidentally regurgitated bomb from Rico's surprise, and comfort a scared, crying Private. He has a theory that all the explosions had triggered Skipper, but of course with Skipper being like this, he can only claim it as a theory. He picks up his bag and drags it closer to Skipper, though still keeping a distance for in case he hears anything amiss and lays down.

"Ko-Kowalski?"

Kowalski sits up and looks around before waddling over to Skipper. "Sir?"

Skipper lays curled up with his face just barely sticking out from the bag, although it is mostly in shadow, Kowalski can make out the pale streaks of tear trails down his face. He sits down by him and rubs his back. "Want to talk about it?"

"No... That wouldn't help," Skipper sighs, his voice sounding broken and distant.

"What can I do to help, sir?" Kowalski securely hides his smug pride that his theory was right, because of course he is right. Why had he even doubted himself? But this is not the time, nor place to be a show off. He didn't need to be a therapist to know that.

"I-I left my..." Skipper bites his tongue as he tries to calm himself more. "I left my medication back at the HQ. I'm not asking you to go back after them," he says slowly, picking his words carefully. "Just...Don't tell the others. I may have more episodes during the night, but I'll be okay. Just leave me alone, please."

"But sir, you don't have to go through them alone. You know we're here for you." He pats his back again.

Skipper weakly shrugs his flipper off. "I know that...But you Nancy cats need your sleep. I'm used to it."

"Skipper," Kowalski sighs and puts his flippers together. "You do not _need_ to go through this alone. I doubt any of us will get much sleep while these humans are testing fireworks anyway. I'm used to pulling all nighters anyway, sir. I can stay up with you."

"I am not staying up. I'm not a coward," he weakly growls. "I can face my own flashbacks."

"I didn't mean it like that, sir. I meant that, I can keep an eye on you. You know, wake you if the flashback starts." He smiles at him.

Skipper looks at him before finally nodding. "Fine...Good night, Kowalski." He turns over and pulls the sleeping bag over his head once again.

"Goodnight, sir." Kowalski nods and pulls his bag over to beside Skipper's and lays down on top of it, looking at the stars and fireworks sparkling overhead.

* * *

 **Bonus:**

"What did I tell you, boys? Ain't this view just beautiful? The calm river, the soft glade, the mountains all around us..." Skipper chuckles to himself, looking at the horizon from his perch on top of a boulder. "Mama Nature outdid herself here, right, men?" He then turns to his team who lay wiped out on the grass with their hiking packs on their backs, pushing them further into the ground.

"Yea...y-yeah. Real...real great...sir," Kowalski pants, turning over onto his pack. "Really great."

Skipper jumps down from the boulder and rolls his eyes. "I know I've trained you all better than this. It was just a little hike, not like I had you slide cross country two days straight then climb over a mountain to get to this valley."

"Actually, Skipper," Private raises his flipper, slowly sitting up. "That's exactly what we—"

"Hebupbup!" Skipper puts his flipper over the young recruits beak with a certain glance. "It was just a little stamina training. You Nancy cats are just that out of shape. Really, that was nothing more than a light workout slide." He grins, putting his flippers to his hips.

"Then the packs," Kowalski moans.

"We can't always count on Rico being there carrying everything like our little psychotic internal pack mule. None of us know what the future might hold."

Rico looks at Skipper. "Whaza?"

Skipper chuckles and pats him on the head. "At ease, soldier, there are no plans on anything taking you out of commission anytime soon." He clears his throat and does not meet Rico's gaze. "Let's get this camp made, men," he quickly says. "Night will be here before we know it."

"Thank kipper for that," Kowalski mumbles under his breath.

Private hears him and giggles a little. "You could say that again," he whispers.


End file.
